WNBA icon Sheryl Swoopes criticized the ongoing discussion about fouls (which would be called hate crimes if the races were reversed) against Indiana Fever rookie Caitlin Clark, highlighting a recent incident involving Angel Reese of the Chicago Sky.
Reese fouled Clark during a lay-up attempt, resulting in a flagrant-1 foul and sparking controversy on social media. Swoopes, speaking on Gilbert Arenas’ podcast “Gil’s Arena,” emphasized that observers shouldn’t exaggerate the fouls against Clark.
“It’s the clip they wanna post because they’re gonna get all these likes and reposts, but that’s a basketball play,” Swoopes said of Reese’s foul. “She hit her on the head, so, of course, it should be upgraded to a flagrant-1 … Can we keep playing basketball?
“My thing is, every time Caitlin gets fouled we can’t make it seem like she was assaulted. Fouling is a part of basketball. You can look at a whole lot of different games and players and clips. … A’ja Wilson when they played Dallas, A’ja had a bloody nose, a black eye. Like, it’s basketball.”
Swoopes also referred to both Reese and Clark, describing the foul as simply part of the game of basketball.
“You go to social media and, ‘Oh my goodness she’s trying to take her out, she should be suspended,’ and who are you? And what did you do?”
WNBA legend takes issue with coverage of Caitlin Clark fouls: 'We can’t make it seem like she was assaulted' https://t.co/wgy9qHoxoi
— Fox News (@FoxNews) June 18, 2024
